1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a connector with a retainer for locking terminal fittings in a connector housing.
2. Description of the Related Art
A known connector with a retainer that is insertable in an oblique direction is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,378,176 and also is shown in FIGS. 15-17 herein. This connector shown in FIGS. 15-17 comprises a connector housing 1 formed with cavities 2 into which terminal fittings 3 are inserted from behind. A retainer 4 has locking portions 5 at its leading end and is mountable to cover an open part of the lower surface of the connector housing 1. The retainer 4 is held initially at a partial locking position where the locking portions 5 are retracted from the cavities 2. Thus, the terminal fittings 3 can be inserted into and withdrawn from the cavities 2. The retainer 4 is pushed obliquely toward a full locking position after the terminal fittings 3 are inserted into the cavities 2. At the full locking position, the locking portions 5 enter the cavities 2 and engage the terminal fittings 3 from behind with respect to insertion direction, thereby locking the terminal fittings 3.
The obliquely inserted retainer has an advantage that insufficiently inserted terminal fittings 3 can be pushed to their proper insertion positions as the retainer 4 is pushed to the full locking position, as shown in FIG. 15.
On the other hand, side plates 6 provided at the opposite ends of the retainer 4 are held in sliding contact with the opposite side surfaces of the connector housing 1. Three projections 7A, 7B, 7C are provided on each side surface of the connector housing 1 and are spaced apart along a moving direction of the retainer 4. A groove 8 is formed in each side plate 6 for receiving two adjacent projections 7A to 7C. The retainer 4 is held at the partial locking position with the two projections 7A, 7B at the rear side fitted in the grooves 8, as shown in FIG. 16, and is held at the full locking position with the two projections 7B, 7C at the front side fitted in the grooves 8, as shown in FIG. 17. The movement of the retainer 4 is guided mainly by the engagement of the middle projections 7B with the grooves 8. However, relatively long grooves 8 need to be formed and the side plates 4 of the retainer 4 accordingly bulge out forwardly.
The connector of FIGS. 15-17 is fitted into a receptacle of a mating male connector as shown in FIG. 17 after the retainer 4 is held at the full locking position. Since the side plates 6 bulge out to positions where they interfere with the leading end of the receptacle 9, dimensions of the receptacle 9 need to be enlarged to avoid interference. This leads to a size enlargement of the connector particularly in widthwise direction.
The present invention was developed in view of the above situation and an object thereof is to make an entire connector assembled by connecting mating connectors smaller.
The invention is directed to a connector with a connector housing formed with one or more cavities into which the terminal fittings are inserted. A retainer is mountable on outer surfaces of the connector housing and is movable obliquely to an insertion direction of the terminal fittings to lock the terminal fittings in the cavities. The retainer comprises at least one side plate that is engageable with a corresponding side surface of the connector housing. Preferably, the side plate is slideably engaged with the side surface of the connector housing. A guiding portion for guiding movement of the retainer in an oblique direction and a locking portion for locking the retainer are provided between the side plate and the side surface of the connector housing. The guiding portion and the locking portion are spaced from one another in a direction that intersects the moving direction of the retainer. The locking portion preferably is closer than the guiding portion to the leading end of the side plate relative to the moving direction of the retainer.
The retainer preferably can be held at a partial locking position where the retainer is retracted from the cavities to permit insertion and withdrawal of the terminal fittings into and from the cavities. The retainer also can be held at a full locking position where the retainer enters the cavities to engage the terminal fittings from behind with respect to the insertion direction. Preferably, the locking portion locks the retainer at the partial locking position and at the full locking position.
The retainer may be held in the partial locking position by holding the side plate between the locking portion and a stopper wall of the connector housing.
The locking portions preferably are dimensioned to require deflection of the side plates away from one another as the side plates move over the locking portions during the movement of the retainer from the partial locking position to the full locking position. The disposition of the locking portions closer to the projecting ends of the locking plates reduces the amount of deflection of the side plates that is required to move the retainer to the full locking position.
The guiding portion that guides the movement of the retainer in the oblique direction and the locking portion that locks the retainer at the locking positions are displaced in the direction intersecting with the moving direction of the retainer. Therefore, the depth dimension of the side plate can be small. As a result, the side plate bulges out forwardly to only a small degree and is located before the leading end of the receptacle, even when the retainer reaches the full locking position. For example, the connector housing may be fit into the receptacle of a mating connector housing. In this situation, it is not necessary to fit the side plate of the retainer inside the receptacle, and a dimension of the receptacle in widthwise direction can be made smaller, thereby making the entire connector compact.
The guiding portion preferably comprises a guide rib on either one of the side surface of the connector housing and the side plate of the retainer and a guide groove formed in the other thereof. The locking portion preferably comprises a locking projection on either one of the side surface of the connector housing and the side plate of the retainer and a locking hole is formed in the other thereof for engagement with the locking projection.
The movement of the retainer is guided by the movement of the guide groove along the guide rib, and the retainer is held at the locking position by the engagement of the locking projection with the locking hole.
The guide rib may comprise a tapered surface and the guide groove may comprise a corresponding tapered surface.
The locking projection preferably comprises a tapered surface for guiding the retainer during its movement in the moving direction.
Most preferably, the side surface comprises a slanted surface to allow the mounting of the retainer on the connector housing by forcing the side surface to deflect.
The projecting distance of the locking projections from the side surfaces preferably is set smaller than the projecting distance of the guide ribs from the side surfaces.
These and other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent upon reading of the following detailed description of preferred embodiments and accompanying drawings. It should be understood that even though embodiments are separately described, single features thereof may be combined to additional embodiments.